The Demigod's Tower
by PercyJfan100
Summary: Four sets twins are taken from their home at birth, and raised in a hidden tower by their 'mother'. Will they ever discover the truth about their 'mother' and escape? Tangled theme, PJO characters.
1. Chapter 1

Ok, so, once upon a time, a single drop of sunlight fell from the heavens. And from this small drop of sun grew a magic, golden flower. It had the ability to heal the ill and injured. An old woman found the flower, and I'll get to why that's important in a minute.

Anyway, a hop skip and a boat ride away, there grew a kingdom. But it wasn't your ordinary kingdom. It was ruled by eight siblings, four girls and four boys, the kings and queens. Everyone loved them, and they were always loyal. But you see, the queens, they were each about to have a baby. But they got sick. Really sick. They might not make it, and they were running out of time, and that's usually when people begin to look for a miracle, or, in this case, a magic golden flower.

Now's the time to talk about that old woman I mentioned earlier. You see, instead of sharing the suns gift to earth, she kept it secret. She hoarded it's healing powers, using it to keep herself young for centuries. And all she had to do was sing a special song.

"Flower gleam and glow

Let your power shine

Make the clock reverse

Bring back what once was mine

What once was mine." I know, I know, she sings to it, she turns young, creepy right? Anyway, the subjects of the kingdom found the flower, which she failed to hide. They brought it back to the palace, where the queens were getting worse and worse by the minute, more and more sickly.

They melted the flower down into a tea, giving a serving to each of the queens to drink. It immediately strengthened them, and they had their children. They each had twins, two healthy children, a boy and a girl were gifted to each, all with beautiful golden hair. To celebrate the princes and princesses birth, they released eight floating lanterns into the sky. And for that one moment, everything was perfect. And then that moment ended.

The old woman, Mother Gothel, snuck into the palace. She sang her song quietly, and was delighted to see that their hair glowed, turning her young! She lifted her scissors, and snipped off a strand of hair from the first princess, Marissa.

She was horrified when, as soon as the hair was removed, it turned brown, the power draining from it. Her skin turned wrinkled, her hair white. The power didn't work if the hair wasn't attached. She tried on each child, but no luck. Another thought occurred to her. As she sang to the final prince, named Jason, she realized that all of their hair was glowing. The power also only worked if they were all together.

She snuck out again, searching for something to transport them in. She found four baskets, and returned. She placed each baby in a basket, two in each. They started crying, calling out to their parents as they felt themselves being lifted. The kings and queens burst in, but were too late. Gothel escaped with the children. She hid them in a hidden tower, deep in the forest, raising them all as her own. The kingdom searched and searched, but they could not find the heirs and heiresses to the throne.

She kept the names they'd been given, actually liking them. They were called Thalia and Jason (the first born set), Annabeth and Malcolm (the second born set), Marissa and Percy (the third born set), and Bianca and Nico (the fourth born set). The only way to tell the boys apart from each other was the color of their eyes, same with the girls. Thalia and Jason had electric blue eyes, Marissa and Percy sea green, Annabeth and Malcolm gray, Bianca and Nico dark brown, nearly black.

Gothel fooled them into believing they were brothers and sisters, which wasn't hard, considering they were nearly identical, but they were actually cousins. She filled their heads with lies, saying the world was awful and dangerous, so they would never try to escape.

But the walls of that tower couldn't hide everything. Each year on their birthday, the kingdom released thousands of lanterns into the sky, hoping that one day, the princes and princesses would see them and follow them home. The children did indeed see them; they snuck out of their room on their birthday, going to see the lanterns, wondering about what those lights were, dreaming about seeing them one day.

It took the children four years to ask why they couldn't go outside. They'd never thought much of it, until now. While they were letting their 'mother' use their hair, Thalia worked up the nerve to ask. "Why can't we go outside?" the others gasped quietly, glancing at her, shocked, then up at Gothel, afraid she would be angry for questioning her decisions.

Gothel just shook her head, not at all angry. It was natural for a child to be curious. "The outside world is a dangerous place. Filled with horrible, awful, selfish people. Look at the base of your neck. Do you see the missing hair?" They all glanced over their shoulder, where, sure enough, was the place where golden hair once was, but was now brown.

"What happened?" Annabeth asked.

"People tried to take it when we lived outside. They broke into the house and cut your hair, trying to take it. But once it's cut, it loses its power. I barely escaped with all of you. Those people are still out there, you know. Still wanting your hair. That is why you must stay here, where you are safe. Do you understand flowers?"

They all nodded quickly, trembling in fear. "Yes mommy."

"Good. Now, off to bed. You need your sleep." She ordered.

"Yes mommy." They said obediently, rising.

Marissa straightened her sea green night gown as she stepped into their bedroom, careful not to step on Annabeth's hair, which was being dragged on the floor before her. Their hair was now a good nineteen feet long, despite their young age of five.

As they all climbed into bed, Bianca spoke. "Why'd you do it?" she asked, looking at her oldest sister Thalia.

"Do what?"

"Ask why we couldn't go outside."

"Just curious. I wondered. I mean, I love it up here, don't get me wrong. But mommy gets to go outside, so I was wondering why we don't ever."

"She has a point. I've been wondering that too." Annabeth spoke up.

"I'm still afraid. People trying to cut our hair would take away the magic! That's awful!" Bianca shrieked.

"Shhh!" Jason scolded. "We're supposed to be asleep. Mom'll be so mad if she finds out we're awake!"

"Kids?" Gothel called. They could hear footsteps. They all scrambled around, picking up random activities to look like they were readying for bed.

"What are you doing?" she demanded, appearing in the bedroom door.

"I'm just washing my face mommy. I wanted to make sure I was clean." Marissa answered.

"And I was finishing the next chapter of the book I'd promised to read to Nico." Annabeth said, patting Nico's head, who sat on the bed before her.

"We're just brushing our teeth." Three other voices replied. Perseus, Jason, and Malcolm, said, setting down their tooth brushes, then washing out their mouths.

"I was helping Bianca brush her hair. She had a little tangle in it." Thalia lied, still running a hair brush through Bianca's hair. The answers were all believable, so Gothel didn't get angry that they were awake.

Gothel nodded in approval, gave them each a hug and a kiss on the forehead, then left, muttering to herself "Such good children."

As soon as she was gone, they all sighed in relief. "Thank goodness. I thought for sure we'd get in trouble." Perseus said.

"Well, we will if we don't go to sleep." Annabeth said, climbing into her bed.

"Wait! Aren't you forgetting something?" Malcolm asked.

She tapped her chin. "I don't think so."

"The lights!" the others cried.

"That's right! How could I not remember?"

"I don't know. But we'll have to sneak out of our room. She doesn't like us talking about things from the outside world." Thalia said.

"Yeah. Let's just get in bed. The sooner we do, the sooner we can see the lights." Marissa said, slipping into her bed. They all laid down, said goodnight, and blew out the candle, making sure they put on a good act that they were asleep, so they could sneak out to see the lights without their 'mother' suspecting anything.


	2. Chapter 2

-At The Palace-

The eight kings and queens stepped out onto the wide terrace of their home, wearing their finest clothes to honor the day. It was the birthday of their lost children. Eight lanterns waited for them, each symbolizing a child. Each ruler had broken, depressed look in their eyes, wondering what their children now looked like. They still sent out search parties every day, but each came back unsuccessful. Now, they would release the lanterns into the sky, as they did on each of the heirs birthdays, hoping that one day, they'd see them and come home, assuming they were still alive and kept together.

"This is the fourth time we've done this." Poseidon spoke. The others nodded in agreement, the children would've turned four years old that day, and would've been thrown a wonderful birthday party. But that couldn't happen, because they were gone. Only one others spoke.

"I miss my little Annabeth and Malcolm." Athena said, her tone devasataed and fragile, like any moment she'd start to cry. They were all fighting back tears, but never showed it.

They stepped forward, sharing solemn glances as they each approached a lantern, looking up at the night sky once in despair before pushing them upward, watching them float into the dark mass of night, thousands of other joining them, where they glowed to their fullest. They seemed so cheery and lovely, something far too nice to be released on a day of such mourning and loss. But it was a day of hope, too. Hope that the princes and princesses would come back one day.

They prayed the names of their children, hoping they'd be answered and be sent back to them. they stood like that for awhile, hands folded and heads bowed, before straightening to watch the display of golden light. They were almost happy, watching the beautiful view, almost, except for the aching in their hearts.

-Meanwhile-

-At The Tower-

-Thalia's POV-

I opened my eyes, raising my head to look around. My seven siblings laid in the beds near me, either asleep or pretending. I hopped out of bed, making sure my hair didn't knock anything over. "Jason. Jason, wake up." I whispered, shaking my brother.

"Hmm? Thalia, what is it?"

"Remember? The lights?"

"Oh, right. Let's get the others."

He woke Perseus, Malcolm, and Nico, while I got Annabeth, Marissa, and Bianca.

We crept down stairs, trying to hold up our hair so it didn't drag and make noise.

Annabeth silently opened the shudders and, sure enough, there were those beautiful golden lights rising into the night sky, the ones Mother called stars. It was strange how they were gold and not silver, and how they just seemed to keep floating up, and not just hover there. Oh well, I shouldn't ask so many questions. At least we got to see them. I should enjoy them while I can.

I put my head down on my hands, watching them. My siblings did the same, sighing every now and then. In a few hours of just watching the lights, the final one disappeared. Having floated so far upward the sky consumed it.

"We better get some sleep." Malcolm said.

"Yeah, if we don't want her to be suspicious." Marissa agreed. We silently went back to our room, still thinking about the lights. Golden and glowing, just like our hair. They were just so beautiful, it was a shame they only appeared one night a year.

As we laid down, I heard Bianca whisper "Happy birthday, everyone." And I fell asleep.

-The Next Morning-

-Marissa's POV-

We woke up at the normal time, around six. After we lowered Mother down for her daily trip outside, we started on our chores. Most people would think it's weird that kids like cleaning (I'm guessing here), but when you live in a tower with practically nothing else to do, you tend to be grateful for any activity you are given. I swept the floors with Percy, Malcolm and Annabeth teamed up to dust the walls, using their hair to climb up to the rafters. Nico and Jason straightened up our room, then polished the floor after it was swept. Thalia and Bianca washed the dishes and clothes, ironing the sheets for extra.

Soon enough, we were finished cleaning, then started brainstorming ideas on what to do to entertain ourselves. "We could… well, uh… I got nothing!" Annabeth said exasperatedly, obviously bored stiff. She and Malcolm were our thinkers in the group.

"I don't have any ideas either. And we ran out of paper to paint on yesterday. So painting is out." Jason said.

"Well… maybe not." Malcolm said.

"Huh?" Bianca was obviously confused.

"Well, I mean, who says we have to paint on paper, anyway? Why don't we just paint the floor, or the walls, or something?"

"But Mother would be so mad if we painted the _walls_!" Thalia argued.

"Have you got any better suggestions?" Malcolm asked our oldest sister.

"Point taken. We've got nothing better to do. But shouldn't we at least wait for Mother to get back and get her permission _before _we paint the walls?" she asked.

"True… so what do we do until then?" Nico inquired.

"We could play hide and seek." Percy suggested.

I shrugged. "We've got nothing better to do."

"Ok, I'll count, you all hide." Annabeth said, then put her head down on the table we were sitting at. We all leapt up and ran in different directions as she began.

Thalia headed up into the rafters, Jason to the outside terrace where he would no doubt be found hanging upside down. Malcolm headed for our room, where he'd probably be under one of the beds or in one of our empty storage trunks. Bianca ran for the space under the stairs, where she used her hair to tie herself to the bottom of one of the steps so she was invisible unless you got down on the ground and looked at her. And the dark shadows underneath there certainly helped. Nico hurried up the stairs to the railing, threw a strand over the side, then tied himself upside down there. So unless you looked up, you wouldn't see him. Percy closed himself inside his closet, leaving me to find somewhere. I glanced around, and Annabeth was almost to thirty, the agreed number! Hmm, where to hide? That's when I remembered, I could go straight up! Right as Annabeth reached thirty, I tossed my hair straight up and tied myself in a laid down position so I wouldn't fall. I stayed still and held my breath, waiting as her footsteps became farther away.

"Hey, get your own hiding spot!" a voice above me hissed. I looked up to see Thalia peaking over the edge of another rafter at me.

"Shh!" I whispered, holding a finger to my lips. "I'll move as soon as I can." I promised.

She nodded. "Ok." Then she laid back down, but this time on her stomach, so she was looking at me. Annabeth looked all around, and soon I heard a "Found you, Percy!" and an, "Awww!", and I knew he'd been caught.

"Come on, you can help me look." She offered, trying to cheer him up.

It worked, and he gladly began to help her look around. They looked all over, and I began to get stiff from laying on that hard wooden board after about an hour. Oh boy… if it was going to take this long… I wouldn't be able to move at _all_ later. In the name of the Floating Lights, this was going to be one long game…


End file.
